2013 Dodge Charger Daytona: Tweaked R/T cars

Dodge has officially released the 2013 Dodge Charger Daytona. As with every Charger Daytona made after 1971, it is essentially a cosmetic package with minor tweaks.

The new car is based on the Dodge Charger R/T edition, with the Super Bee's blacked-out hood; the Charger Juiced's lower chin spoiler; the Road & Track wheels; and a blackout treatment on the roof, spoiler, and front grille. The first batch will come out in Daytona Blue (which might be a renamed version of an earlier color), with later models sold in bright white, billet silver, and black; only 2,500 will be made for model-year 2013.

Inside, buyers get black seats (leather with Road & Track, cloth with R/T) with Daytona Blue accents and stitching, a numbered dashboard plaque, Mopar pedal kit, and Beats audio (ten speakers, 552 watts). The cost is $2,500 above the R/T Road & Track, or $2,995 above the R/T. Thus, the Daytona will be $32,990 for the R/T and $36,495 for the R/T Road & Track, plus $995 shipping in the continental United States.

The original Dodge Charger Daytona was a short run of cars built to allow Dodge to put an aerodynamics kit on their Charger for NASCAR racing; they set speed records of over 200 mph, and came with a choice of the 440 V-8 or the ultimate muscle car engine, the 426 Hemi. Since that model was dropped, the name has periodically been used for lightly modified Chargers, including the pictured (above) 2006 model and a version of the late-1970s Dodge Charger SE which was visually similar to the Chrysler Cordoba. There was also a series of front wheel drive cars simply called the Dodge Daytona, and a more recent Ram Daytona pickup.

Before Chrysler set the release, artist Susan Rand predicted the look of the car -- see if you can tell which photo is the real Chrysler press image, and which is Susan's prediction, without reading the captions.